The war in Jizhou was fierce. Xuzhou, which had been peaceful for many years, was also full of wars. Xuzhou has been peaceful for a long time and the people are comfortable. It has attracted millions of refugees from neighboring states and counties. However, it is not chaotic. Once it is chaotic, it will be shocking.
In July, it was reported that Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, had died at the hands of Tao Qian's general Zhang Kai. Cao Cao was furious and launched an army to attack Xuzhou. They massacred the city wherever the army passed along the way. Killing four to five million Xuzhou people along the way. Their bodies were thrown into the water of Surabaya. The people of Xuzhou were frightened and howled, and they fled in all directions. Cao Cao effortlessly captured more than ten cities in Xuzhou. Tao Qian fought with him and was defeated. He stayed in Tancheng and did not dare to fight Cao Cao head-on.
Xingye sent someone to report to Wenyuan and Gongsun Zan.
Originally, among the two major camps, Wen Yuan, Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zan, and Tao Qian were one group, and Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Liu Biao were one group. When Tao Qian was in trouble, he naturally had to turn to his ally Wen Yuan for help. But at this time, Wen Yuan had just returned to Ying Tao. He guarded Ning'er's tomb and could not manage affairs. All foreign affairs were left to Jushou to take care of.
Jushou did not dare to agree easily because the matter was of great importance. Xingye sent people to Yingtao to ask Wen Yuan for instructions. However, Wen Yuan was in grief at this time, so he could not deal with it in time. When he found out that Liu Bei led his troops south to rescue Tao Qian, he couldn't help but A sigh of relief.
If Wen Yuan were sober at this time, he would not have left Jizhou with Liu Bei. He would have been trapped in Jizhou and Qingzhou, so that this tough-minded hero would never be able to succeed. But because of Ning'er's death, Wen Yuan would not have left Jizhou at this time. Everything was in chaos. Inadvertently, Liu Bei was allowed to go south to Xuzhou, out of his control.
Tao Qian's messenger found Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei. Gongsun Zan had just captured Nanpi at this time. There was another more important thing that troubled him and he couldn't get away. Liu Bei stood up at the right time and expressed his dissatisfaction with Cao Cao's treatment of Xuzhou. He was willing to lead troops to rescue Tao Qian. He borrowed 3,000 soldiers and horses from Gongsun Zan and led his troops to go south with Tao Qian's envoy. Along with them were Kong Rong's 3,000 troops. By the time Wen Yuan gradually recovered from his sadness, When he came out, Liu Bei had already arrived in Xuzhou, and he met Cao Cao, two peerless heroes, on the battlefield.
Liu Bei's army attacked Tancheng. Tao Qian was extremely grateful to Liu Xuande who came thousands of miles to come to his aid. He ordered Liu Bei and his general Cao Bao to form a field force, which would be at arm's length with Tancheng's barrier, Xiangben City, in an attempt to use a strong city to bring down Cao Cao. Troops. Because Tao Qian discovered that Cao Cao's field combat capabilities were far superior to his Xuzhou soldiers who were usually neglected in training. The only way he could rely on in field operations was Liu Beijun, who had been fighting for many years and had learned something from the Julu Army.
Who is Cao Cao? Even without a group of counselors under his command, he is a master of military arts. After seeing Tao Qian's deployment, he quickly discovered Tao Qian's purpose and weaknesses, and he quickly had a way to deal with it.
He found that the Xuzhou army had been at ease for a long time and lacked actual combat experience. The crazy killings before Cao Jun were frightened, making the entire army very passive. Tao Qian himself led the main force to hide in Tancheng, while Xiangbencheng, Cao Bao, and Liu Bei The coalition forces were too weak and did not have the ability to confront Cao's soldiers head-on. Moreover, Xiangben's army and Cao Bao's army were afraid of Cao's soldiers, so their combat power was greatly reduced. This was the first battle between these two peerless heroes on the battlefield. .Liu Bei’s defeat was already doomed before the war even started.
Cao Cao ordered Cao Ren to surround Xiangben City and monitor Tao Qian of Tan City as he left the city. He used the strategy of encircling the point to provide reinforcements to attract Liu Bei and Cao Bao's coalition forces. He himself personally provided the main force to attack Liu Bei and Cao Bao. The two of them combined could only have more than 20,000 people. Even if The thousands of soldiers and horses Liu Bei brought from Jizhou were already elites who had been fighting for many years. However, they could not defeat Cao Cao's army, which was several times larger than his own. Liu Bei did not last long. The Xuzhou army led by Cao Bao was retreating steadily.
Liu Bei was unable to support himself, so he had to retreat with Cao Bao. In this battle, Cao Cao defeated the coalition forces of Tao Qian and Liu Bei, beheading more than 10,000 people.
Tao Qian heard that the enemy was coming to report the defeat, but he did not dare to go out of the city to help. Liu Bei led the defeated troops into Tancheng. Tao Qian did not dare to go out again. It was not until Cao Cao besieged Tancheng for two months and the food supply was exhausted that the siege of Xuzhou was temporarily lifted.
Although Liu Bei was defeated, Tao Qian saw that Liu Bei's troops still had a certain fighting capacity. To ensure the safety of Xuzhou, Tao Qian strongly invited Liu Bei to stay in Xuzhou. He also petitioned the imperial court to make Liu Bei the governor of Yuzhou. General Zuo. Xiaopei rested Liu Bei's horse, gave him money and grain, and allocated four thousand Danyang elites.
Over in Youzhou, the reason why Gongsun Zan did not send troops to rescue Tao Qian was not because he was unwilling. It was actually because he was also encountering a huge crisis at this time. This crisis was actually a turning point for him to expand his strength. Everything was going well. It came from his immediate boss Liu Yu.
Liu Yu was named Bo'an. He was a native of Tancheng in the East China Sea. He came to Yuyang in the fourth year of Zhongping. Former Zhongshan Prime Minister Zhang Chun and former Taishan Governor Zhang Ju rebelled in Yuyang. Wuhuan successively attacked Jixia, burned the city walls and captured the people. He killed Wuhuan Colonel Ji Chou, You Beiping Prefect Liu Zheng, Liaodong Prefect Yang Zhong, etc. Liu Yu was ordered to do so when he was in danger. He was named Youzhou Mu. He adopted a policy of disintegration and put down the rebellion in one fell swoop. At this time, he got to know Liaodong. Gongsun Zan, who was born as a scribe, hated foreigners deeply.
Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan had always been at odds because of their different political views on governing foreign tribes. Liu Yu advocated the use of gentle methods to divide and disintegrate the Wuhuan and other foreign tribes in the north. Gongsun Zan fought bravely and always advocated taking tough measures against foreign tribes. As a result, the feud between the two became more and more intense. Yueshen. In the third year of Chuping, Gongsun Zan fought with Yuan Shao. They suffered repeated defeats. Liu Yu withheld grain and military supplies from Gongsun Zan in the rear. The two criticized each other. A strong smell of gunpowder began to spread between the two sides.
Finally, in the winter of October of the fourth year of Chuping, Liu Yu gathered an army of 100,000 to attack Gongsun Zan. Although Liu Yu was an expert in politics, commanding the army was not his strong point. When he attacked Ji County where Gongsun Zan was stationed, he hesitated and ordered the soldiers not to burn it. The soldiers were not good at fighting and cherished the people's houses, so they could not capture Jicheng for a while. Gongsun Zan saw the opportunity and summoned hundreds of elite warriors. They set fire to the wind and took advantage of the situation to make a surprise attack. Liu Yu was defeated and fled north. Arriving at Juyong County, Gongsun Zan pursued and the city fell in three days. Liu Yu was captured alive and beheaded. Then he divided his troops and annihilated each county. In December of that year, Gongsun Zan took charge of Youzhou Pastoral and regarded himself as the overlord of the north.
Here are the major events that have happened in the world since Wenyuan ignored political affairs for several months. Although Wenyuan ignored political affairs, Wang Li regularly sent information to Wenyuan every month. Therefore, Wenyuan could still receive information from the world without leaving home. what happened in between.
However, Wen Yuan's daily visit to the tomb was not completely idle. As Wen Yuan's mood gradually calmed down, he also began to do some things. For example, he cared about the political affairs of Jizhou or **** a few young generals.